Often imitated but never bettered, 1978’s ‘National Lampoon’s Animal
House’ is not only one of the most successful film comedies ever made
but also one of the most influential. Pretty much every rowdy teen
comedy made since has attempted to either copy outright or somehow
improve upon ‘Animal’s mixture of outrageous pranks, irreverence,
anarchic high spirits and palpable camaraderie.

Some of ‘Animal’s thematic children are perfectly sound; more of them
are completely lame. The imitators often pick up on the most obvious
elements – rebellion, raunch, wreckage – and miss both the high-wire
sweetness and small grace notes that are present throughout, courtesy
of the tone set by director John Landis and writers Harold Ramis,
Douglas Kenney & Chris Miller. It also helps that ‘Animal House’
was already a period film when it was made: set in 1962, it takes place
in a universe where real-life (as opposed to virtual) discovery is
still prevalent and the military draft is a serious threat.

At Faber College, freshmen roommates Larry (Thomas Hulce) and Kent
(Stephen Furst) are immediately branded geeks, unlikely to be accepted
into any fraternity. They find their way to Delta, which Larry darkly
notes has a reputation as "the worst house on campus." Among Delta’s
inhabitants: ladies’ man Otter (Tim Matheson), low-key sarcasm king
Boon (Peter Riegert), nervous spokesman Hoover (James Widdoes),
motorcycle-riding (through the halls and up stairs) D-Day (Bruce
McGill) and unpredictable, unstoppable force Bluto (John Belushi). The
school’s apoplectic Dean Wormer (John Vernon) and fascistic ROTC Capt.
Niedermeyer (Mark Metcalf) want to shut down Delta House – which turns
out to be perfectly feasible – but they reckon without Delta’s gift for
lunacy.

It would be unwise to judge ‘Animal House’ by the standards of later
‘National Lampoon’ movies. This film treads a magical fine line of
mischief, where later ‘Lampoon’ features are simply outright
mean-spirited. Some of the material here is questionable by the year
2000 standards, but on reflection, the bits of racial humor are based
on black/white mistrust (which fits the 1962 segregated milieu) rather
than negative traits on either side; the sexual humor is about
surprising consent rather than assault or female credulity; the bad
guys are shown to be truly vicious – in filmic terms, begging for a
comeuppance – rather than simply pompous.

Belushi’s turn as Bluto here is rightly the stuff of legend, but if the
other actors weren't in buoyant sync, Bluto couldn’t shine as he does –
he needs the context provided by the rest of the cast. Matheson and
Riegert make a great razor-tongued double act, McGill has his own brand
of eye-widening insanity, and Hulce and Furst are both endearing as
newcomers to the kingdom of madness. Donald Sutherland is very funny as
a reasonably hip professor and Vernon, Metcalf, James Daughton and
Kevin Bacon all manage to be hilarious as the smarmy fascists
theoretically running the show.

The soundtrack for ‘Animal House’ is an unqualified treat. Most of the
songs are ones to be savored over and over; all are expertly chosen to
steer the mood and tempo of specific scenes. In Chapter 3, our first
sight of Delta is accompanied by an energetic cover of "Louie, Louie,"
shortly echoed in Chapter 5 by a raucous but agreeable live chorus from
the Deltas. Chapter 12 has Sam Cooke’s spritely romantic college ode
"Wonderful World" setting the stage for a food fight. Lloyd Williams
and his musical cohorts, playing onscreen band Otis Day and the
Knights, deliver a burn-the-house-down rendition of "Shout" that
captures the energy and exuberance of Delta life.

The collector’s edition disk comes with a number of goodies, the most
impressive being a 45-minute long documentary, ‘The Yearbook,’ in which
filmmaker Joseph "J.M." Kenny seems to have rounded up all living
participants in ‘Animal House,’ who speak of their experiences over 20
years later with tremendous affection. Along with clips filmed during
the making of ‘Animal House’ – there’s a very funny bit of Landis
getting Belushi to express various emotions with his eyebrows – there
are fond reminiscences of Belushi and writer Doug Kenney by their
friends. There are also a plethora of stories. Arguably the most
startling of these, related by cast members who were there, tells of
the actors playing Deltas going to a real frat party two days before
filming began and getting stomped by the irate frat brothers.

For anyone who wants to see the roots of the last 20 years of teen film
comedy or just have a good laugh with good tunes, ‘Animal House’ is
indispensable. For those who know this already, ‘The Yearbook’ is a
most welcome bonus.